DEFINITION
The definition of interactivity to me is essentially communication, through input, processing, and output. In order to successfully interact with others, communication is key, as well as language. In a dialogue between two people, there must be a common ground/shared knowledge to begin (language), then an effort to start a conversation. Next, the back and forth dialogue represents processing, for the two people to interpret each other’s speech. Lastly, there is output, for the two people conversing to speak back and forth to understand each other and build on top of what was previously said. This is similar to the Boolean property, which was mentioned in”The Art of Interactive Design” by Crawford. The Boolean property indicates that various degrees of communication equate the degree of interactivity, which is true. For instance, if two people conversing don’t speak the same language or has difficulty understanding each other’s speech, then the ideas aren’t getting across as clearly, equating to a mediocre if the not poor level of interactivity or communication between the two. Ultimately, the end result of the interactions is for both ends to understand each other through communication.
ALIGNING/UNALIGHED PROJECTS
One project that I thought matched my definition of interactivity is the Netflix film Black Mirror: Bandersnatch. Although I personally did not like the film as much compared to the other seasons of Black Mirror, it was a pretty good paradigm of an interactive movie through the various choices you could make as an audience and it displayed various endings which kept the audience entertained but also followed the storyline. The one end (the movie/code) understood the other end’s (audience) gestures through their input (clicking through the different options) and processed it to display the results of communication (different videos that matched the audience’s desire) without failing. Therefore, the movie was a good demonstration of interactivity.
One project that didn’t align with my definition of interactivity is the Neo-Natur project. For me, the project does not align with my ideas about interactivity because it is displayed as a piece of art and at a gallery where people can touch it and read more about it, but it cannot communicate anything back. Interactivity means communication between two parties. If the project is just a piece of art that cannot display something in return to communication, then it misses one of the three crucial parts of interactivity, which is the output part.
GROUP PROJECT
For the Interactive Device Group Project, my group and I made an interactive life preserver for the year 2119. Since by then, climate change would have a bigger impact on our daily lives, my group decided to create a device that would be useful by then, since climate change will definitely impact the world we live in 100 years from today. For this project, my group members and I collaborated while creating a prototype for the life preserver, which is essentially a jacket that will protect the person wearing it from all types of natural disasters and environmental issues they might face, such as typhoons, pollutions, earthquakes, and forest fires. We demonstrated ways the life jacket could help someone in those events in a witty way, through the demonstration of Ryan (not wearing the life jacket) suffering in those situations without the life jacket in juxtaposition to Sarah (wearing the life jacket), who is safe and sound. Our other group members acted out natural disasters while Nina the narrator/salesperson narrated the scenes. Together, I think our group did a good job demonstrating the definition of interactivity through our actions with each other and communicated throughout our performance.
SOURCES
Crawford, Chris. “Art of Interactive Design.” Art of Interactive Design | No Starch Press, nostarch.com/interactive.htm.
Neo-natur article: https://www.creativeapplications.net/environment/neo-natur-a-space-for-thought-about-and-for-nature-artcom/
Bandersnatch Movie: https://www.netflix.com/watch/80988062?trackId=13752289&tctx=0%2C0%2C47f6efc0615c8d62d718fe677d92e49a8f787c65%3A52ef296a521c3b34db012edaa8e17855d95a4df5%2C%2C